Keurig to buy Dr. Pepper Snapple

Plano, TX, and Burlington, MA – Keurig will buy Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, creating beverage company, Keurig Dr. Pepper, with about $11 billion in annual sales.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dr. Pepper Snapple shareholders will receive $103.75 per share in a special cash dividend and retain 13 per cent of the combined company.

The merger combines brands Dr. Pepper, 7UP, Snapple, A&W, Mott’s and Sunkist with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, the Keurig single-serve coffee system, and other brands in the Keurig system, the companies said in a news release.

Bob Gamgort, current chief executive officer of Keurig, will serve as chief executive officer of the combined company, and Ozan Dokmecioglu, current chief financial officer of Keurig, will serve as its chief financial officer.

Dr. Pepper Snapple president and chief executive officer Larry Young will assume a role on the board of directors. Bart Becht, of JAB Holding Company, which acquired Keurig in 2016 in partnership with Mondelez International, will serve as chairman of the company’s board of directors.

Keurig and Dr. Pepper Snapple will continue to operate out of their current locations in Waterbury, Vt., and Plano, Texas. Gamgort will be based in Burlington, Mass., the release said.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018, subject to the approval of Dr. Pepper Snapple shareholders.